The p&a fund model launched last year by Ideenkapital to raise investment for the marketing costs of three 20th Century Fox releases appears to have come unstuck.

According to the Association of German Media Funds (VDM), the tax authorities in Munich at Finanzamt Muenchen III are not expected to recognise the tax relief which was being claimed by some 4,600 investors on the Euros 231.2m they had invested in Ideenkapital's Mediastream IV fund last year.

The three features which were set to benefit were the Will Smith-starrer I, Robot, directed by Alex Proyas; Donald Petrie's comedy Welcome To Mooseport, starring Gene Hackman, Ray Romano and Maura Tierney; and writer-director Rawson Marshall Thurber's comedy Underdogs with Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn.

At the time, Ideenkapital's Axel Pollheim had told ScreenDaily.com that with the new concept, "we are avoiding the debate about what a 'blind pool' is and whether the fund is able to exert any influence on the course of a production.

In addition to fixed license payments paid by 20th Century Fox to the fund, the investors would have a chance of participating 'on top' in 30% of the films' worldwide revenues, the US major receiving the other 70%.

VDM board member Michael Oehme stressed that one would "first have to wait for the reasoning with which the tax advantages are no longer to be granted.

"A separation of the costs for the production of a film and its marketing doesn't make any sense and doesn't actually correspond with the current legal position."

In an initial statement, the VDM pointed out that the tax authorities' stand against Mediastream "damages the whole [media fund] sector."

German production funds, like VIP Medienfonds remain unaffected by this development.